March 11, 2014

How balanced is the field for this week’s Big 12 men’s basketball tournament? Five different schools are given odds of 7/1 or better to claim the tournament title, a list that includes the No. 7 seed (Baylor) and No. 8 seed (Oklahoma) in the 10-team league.

Six of the 10 teams received odds of 9/1 or better today from Bovada Sports Book (www.Bovada.lv), by far the highest number of teams with single-digits odds heading into any conference tournament.

Below is a league-by-league look at the odds assigned teams vying to earn an NCAA Tournament berth at this week’s conference tournaments:

January 24, 2014

Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty is considered one of the top five frontrunners to win the 2014 Heisman Trophy, based on odds released today by Bovada sports book (www.Bovada.lv). Petty, the 2013 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, received opening odds of 6/1, trailing a list of four fellow returnees topped by Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston (2/1), the 2013 Heisman and Davey O’Brien Award recipient.

Petty, at 6/1, is the only player from a Texas-based college to be listed among 15 candidates assigned preseason odds to win the Heisman. He joins Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight (25/1) as the only players from Big 12 schools to receive Heisman odds. Knight received the same opening odds as Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson, who led the Fighting Irish to the BCS national title game as a freshman during the 2012 season but did not play in 2013 because of academic issues.

January 07, 2014

The winningest football season in Baylor history ended with the Bears at No. 13 in both final college polls Tuesday.

Baylor (11-2), which won its first Big 12 championship but fell to Central Florida in the Fiesta Bowl, finished seven spots behind No. 6 Oklahoma (11-2) in both The Associated Press and the coaches postseason polls. The Sooners finished as the highest-ranked team among local colleges, with No. 17 Oklahoma State (10-3) and No. 18 Texas A&M (9-4) also cracking the Top 25.

For Baylor, the No. 13 spot in the final AP poll matched the placement of the 2011 team led by Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. Only in 1951 (ninth), 1956 (11th), 1960 (12th) and 1986 (12th) has a Baylor team finished with a loftier final placement in the AP poll than the 2013 team that finished at No. 13.

Although unranked, Big 12 members Texas Tech (8-5) and KansasState (8-5) earned votes in both final polls. North Texas (9-4) was unranked but received two votes in the final coaches poll.

October 10, 2013

Prices for tickets to Saturday’s Texas-Oklahoma game on the secondary market have reached a startling disparity that could result in more crimson than normal in sections typically reserved for fans wearing burnt orange in Dallas.

A study released Thursday by SeatGeek.com, a search engine that tracks ticket prices on the secondary market, showed re-sale seats in the Texas half of the Cotton Bowl are nearly 40 percent cheaper than tickets in the OU half of the stadium. The site called it the largest gap in prices since 2010, a season when Texas finished 5-7.

A study of other ticket-related search engines showed seats on the Texas side could be purchased at or below face value. Seats in OU areas all were priced well above face value.

Based on evidence provided by SeatGeek.com, the average re-sale ticket price on Oklahoma’s side of the stadium is $331, well above the average price for a seat in one of the Texas sections ($209). The gap of $122 per seat more than doubles the highest gap recorded in any of the past three seasons ($53 per seat) on the re-sale market, based on studies done by the site.

The price differential and ticket demand suggests there could be more OU fans than normal in Texas sections by Saturday’s kickoff. As of Thursday, SeatGeek.com cited the lowest available price for a seat in the OU section as $133. For less than $133, fans could purchase a seat in 15 different sections on the Texas side, including four sections in the lower bowl.

October 05, 2013

Texas quarterback David Ash will not play against No. 11 Oklahoma in next week’s Red River Rivalry matchup in Dallas because of lingering effects of his head injury, team trainers announced Saturday.

Case McCoy, a senior who is 1-1 as a starter this season for the Longhorns (3-2, 2-0 in Big 12), will start against OU in the Oct. 12 matchup at the Cotton Bowl (11 a.m., WFAA/Ch. 8). McCoy will be backed up by freshman Tyrone Swoopes, who has not played this season.

Ash, a junior who has a 14-7 career mark as the Longhorns’ starter, sustained a concussion in the team’s Sept. 7 game at Brigham Young and did not play Sept. 14 against Ole Miss. Concussion-related symptoms resurfaced during a Sept. 21 victory over Kansas State and Ash left that game in the second quarter and has not returned.

Ash did not travel with the team to Thursday’s 31-30 victory over Iowa State. Kenny Boyd, Texas’ head athletic trainer for football, announced Saturday that cornerback Sheroid Evans also will miss the Oklahoma game because of a knee injury sustained against Iowa State.

August 30, 2013

The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth will become part of the Big 12 bowl mix in the 2014 season, league and bowl officials announced Friday.

As part of the deal, the Big 12 will provide its No. 7 pick to either the game in Fort Worth or the Heart of Dallas Bowl five times during a six-year stretch (2014-19). A Big 12 team will be a primary back-up selection in the other season.

In years that a Big 12 school does not wind up in Fort Worth, a team from the Big Ten will compete in the game at Amon G. Carter Stadium while a Big 12 school heads to Dallas as part of a reciprocal deal between the two bowls and the two leagues. The Big Ten agreement with the D-FW bowls, announced in July, covers the 2013-19 seasons.

The Big Ten will send a team to this year’s Heart of Dallas Bowl. The 2013 Armed Forces Bowl, to be played Dec. 30 in Fort Worth (10:45 a.m., ESPN), will feature Navy – pending bowl eligibility -- against an opponent from the Mountain West Conference.

In seasons when the Big 12 team plays in the Armed Forces Bowl, that school will play an opponent from the American Athletic Conference. When the Big 12 team winds up in Dallas, the opponent will come from Conference USA.

Brant Ringler, executive director of the Armed Forces Bowl, said officials in Fort Worth are “extremely excited to be working … with the Big 12 Conference and its counterparts in the Big Ten during the next six seasons.”

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bolwsby said adding the D-FW connection allows league officials to meet “all the benchmarks” sought by schools for future bowl tie-ins: a strong presence in Texas, combined with options in Florida, Arizona and another drivable destination for most schools (Liberty Bowl in Memphis).

The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth will become part of the Big 12 bowl mix, starting with the 2014 season, sources close to the situation have confirmed. A formal announcement is expected later today.

As part of the deal, the Big 12 will provide its No. 7 pick to either the game in Fort Worth or the Heart of Dallas Bowl on an annual basis five times during a six-year stretch (2014-19). A Big 12 team will be a primary back-up selection in the other season.

In years that a Big 12 school does not wind up in Fort Worth, a team from the Big Ten will compete in the game at Amon G. Carter Stadium while a Big 12 school heads to Dallas as part of a reciprocal deal between the two bowls and the two leagues. The Big Ten agreement with the D-FW bowls, announced in July, covers the 2013-19 seasons.

The Big Ten will send a team to this year’s Heart of Dallas Bowl. The 2013 Armed Forces Bowl, to be played Dec. 30 in Fort Worth (10:45 a.m., ESPN) will feature Navy – pending bowl eligibility -- against an opponent from the Mountain West Conference.

August 29, 2013

The college football season kicks off this weekend and the Texas A&M-Alabama game on Sept. 14 is the hottest commodity on the re-sale ticket market, based on information provided today by vividseats.com.

The A&M-Alabama game, a battle of Top 10 teams in the preseason polls, has an average re-sale price of $744 per ticket, with a $359 minimum, based on data compiled by the website.

Among opening-week matchups, the costliest re-sale tickets are for these games: Georgia-Clemson ($292), Boise State-Washington ($232) and Alabama-Virginia Tech ($175).

Among individual schools, the highest average ticket prices for home games are found at Notre Dame ($290), Ohio State ($280) and Alabama ($246). Texas A&M is sixth on that list ($205), with Texas at No. 8 ($186) and Oklahoma at No. 10 ($169).

In terms of individual contests, the Red River Rivalry matchup between Texas and Oklahoma ranks fifth nationally on the re-sale market, with an average price of $466 and a minimum price of $191.

August 28, 2013

Heading into the 2013 college football season, the most-discussed rules change made during the offseason involves an updated definition of “targeting” by a defensive player while making a tackle. To help fans understand the nuances of the rule, the Big 12 circulated a video featuring Walt Anderson, the league’s coordinator of football officials, explaining what is allowed and what will be penalty under 2013 rules. This information applies to rules implementation throughout the country, not just the Big 12. Below is a link to Anderson’s video: